Musannaf Ibn Abi Shayba 19:414

Abu Bakr narrated to us, he said: Hushaym narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Salim, from al-Sha’bi, that he was asked about a man against whom witnesses testified that he had divorced his wife three times, but he denied that, even though he was having intercourse with her. He said: He said, "The prescribed punishment (hadd) is averted from him due to his denial."